This site offers a myriad of memory games, brain games, quizzes, and more. Train your brain to think! Interactives offered in a variety of languages include: Dragger, Counterfeit, The Game you Can't Stop, Masterpieces, Sudoko, Mastermind, Crime Scene, The Image Quiz, Anagramania, Square Words, Speed Read, and Spellice. Many other games are also included. After winning a game, you earn a ticket. The tickets let you enter the bonus room to win a surprise image.

In the Classroom

Offer exciting and fun ways to improve problem solving and creativity in A Game a Day! Challenge your students to go beyond and stretch their thinking in a variety of ways. The gaming format holds high motivation and interest with your students. Arrange contests within your class for increased achievement. Use in gifted and advanced classes. A Game a Day is a great center time activity and also can be used effectively for reward time. Use as examples for gaming formats with your computer classes. Challenge your students to create review activities for concepts and units based on the game formats presented. Preservice teachers can benefit for discovering the wave of the future: education through gaming. Use in your world language classes to increase fluency.

How do you make a decision and weigh all of the factors? Use Decico. This decision making tool uses a decision matrix technique to look at the problem in context and calculate favorable alternatives. Select the alternatives you want to compare, choose how you want to compare them, and then compare the generated score. Highest score should be given consideration. Create a login to save your decision matrices. Link, download, or embed the results.

In the Classroom

Use for many kinds of societal, political, or environmental discussions and decisions, such as paper or plastic bags, drilling or not in ANWAR, etc. Use in literary discussions of alternatives faced by characters. Use in preparation for debates or persuasive writing. Generate a list of actions and alternatives and create the decision matrix. Use multimedia or conventional posters to generate information about the advantages and disadvantages of each position. Try a site like Piclits (reviewed here) or Typogenerator (reviewed here). Create a case study about a real life situation where a decision would have to be made and provide roles for students. Students use the decision making matrix with their assigned role to generate a vote for the issue. Consider using this tool for a project actually occurring in their neighborhood. For example, a field and trees being taken down as well as the changing of the landscape for a proposed development. Use the decision making matrix in Decico to determine why the decision to proceed happened or should happen.

This "wordy" site offers word definitions with a challenge! You see the first letter of a word and its definition. You must quickly type in a word you think fits the definition. The site allows you to pass if you do not know the word, but the definition of the word appears anyway (along with the answer). Once the correct word is entered, the definition changes quickly so you can accrue as many points as possible in a limited time. The site also keeps a list of words used at any interaction, so you can see the words correct and missed. Some definitions offer easier hints in their wording.

In the Classroom

Try this activity at the start of class on your interactive whiteboard or projector; it's perfect for vocabulary development with a lively twist! Offer this site to your students who are trying to assess and/or improve their vocabulary for standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT. ESL/ELL students may also enjoy the challenges and additions to their vocabulary. Share this site on your class webpage or blog for students to access (and practice) at home.

This Study Skills site is fabulous! The activities are all divided by ages (5-9, 10-14, and 15-18). Each age level includes teacher information, parent information, and Learners... the link to find the neat interactives! Each age level also highlights four key areas: Do, Get, Remember, and Understand. Each area includes some age-appropriate text and interactives.

For professional purposes, there are also links (some PDF files) to research about the importance of teaching study skills. This site makes it easy and fun to teach these life skills! This site was creating in the United Kingdom, so you may notice a few spelling and pronunciation differences from American English.

In the Classroom

This is one of those rare sites that should be saved in ALL teachers' favorites. Be sure to list this link on your class website.

Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work with a partner to navigate the age appropriate activities at the site. Why not highlight a different area each month or unit of study so you have material with which to apply it (Do, Get, Remember, or Understand). During month/unit one introduce study skills using the Do link and resources. Then further investigate subsequent study skills each month/unit using the other main topics : Get, Remember, and Understand. Have students try out some of their "new skills" before the unit test. Be sure to ask them afterwards why they were successful (or not) in applying the new study approach. Maybe even add a question about the latest study skill at the end of every test.

Join a community of online learners, teachers, experts, and parents, which provides variety and creativity in teaching and learning. Different areas of focus include Applied Sciences, English/literature, Humanities, Learning Strategies, Mathematics, Sciences, Social/Behavioral Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, and World Languages. Within the subject matter, learning packets focusing on specific educational objects is presented through a number of medias including; audio, video, PowerPoints, or written text. Opportunity to ask the creator of the packet specific questions follows the information. Suggested grade levels are included. By getting a free account, you may contribute learning packets, questions, or rate a packet.

In the Classroom

Provide your students with reinforcement or challenge into the many different areas listed. Allow time for students to choose their area of interest to study. Create an account and contribute your teaching materials. Be sure to list this site on your class website as a resource. Encourage parents to visit this site to brush up on their skills. Challenge students to create your own learning packets based on your areas of study. Include your own personalized packets on your class blog. You can create a private group, so only your students may access your materials.

The Google Safety Center is a one stop shop for teachers and parents for information about keeping children safe online. The site provides instructions and resources on how to use Google tools to safely access the internet. The site even includes "video tips."

In the Classroom

Use the resources from the site to show students how to safely search the internet. Post the link on your class website for parents to access from home. In addition, set up a safe search engine for students to use when doing research.

Sqworl is a site for combining multiple links into one single link. Registration is required; however, it is very easy. You create a username and password, add your email and it is done. After registering, a personal homepage is created, this is where the magic can begin! The homepage is where groups will be created to combine url's. Then adding some groups of link begins the process of creating groups. At this point a title is given to the group being created (examples might be Math sites, American History, etc.). The final step is to add a short description. After choosing start, simply copy and paste the url you want to use and add a short description and click finish. Once a group is created, it can be shared through the url shown on the page. Sqworl also has a bookmarklet that can be added to the browser toolbar making it easier to add items to your groups without having to open the homepage. There is also a mobile app for iPhone.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

In the classroom use this site to combine url's of online class projects into one group. Create a group of resources for students or parents for different subjects and share the url through your classroom website or newsletter. Create a group with videos relating to classroom content. Create a classroom account and let students add resources they have found to groups to share with others. Show students how to follow other groups on Sqworl and share resources by creating their own groups. Share this site with others in your building or district as an easy way to save and share online resources.

This wiki is a treasure trove of resources for teachers to use when using the Differentiated Instruction model of instruction. The site is most easily navigated by choosing topics from the links on the left side of the page. Topics include background information, planning and managing, and professional development tools. After choosing a topic, there is a list of links: some are to videos, others are to Word or PDF documents that can be downloaded for immediate use. One particularly rich resource on the wiki is the section titled Questioning & Thinking Skills. Located here are many resources such as how to write great questions, a Blooms Taxonomy interactive quiz, podcasts about Blooms Taxonomy, an Essential Questions PowerPoint, and much more. This section is worth a visit just to review the resources. Another well-developed portion of the wiki is the Pre-Assessment link. Here you will find many documents to use for pre-assessment of knowledge as well as activating prior knowledge resources.

In the Classroom

Use the printable resources on the site in your classroom to help differentiate instruction. Share resources from the site during staff meetings to help further knowledge of Differentiated Instruction techniques and management. Break up the wiki into sections and have different staff members present on resources from different parts of the site.

This site offers a complete lesson plan to use with students prior to beginning a first research project. The lesson takes students through the process of analyzing book titles to determine ones that would be helpful in their research. It then builds on class discussion to enable students to make informed decisions on appropriate research material. One especially useful part of the lesson is the Hints About Print interactive link included in the lesson plan. This would be a wonderful site to use on your interactive whiteboard to lead the class through basics of choosing materials for research. Other useful items on the site are the nonfiction book reviews and nonfiction book evaluation forms that are available in pdf form for easy classroom use. Find all resources and print material by choosing the Resources and Preparation tab near the top of the page.

In the Classroom

View the Hints About Print interactive with your class on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to demonstrate different concepts on choosing appropriate resources for research. If you don't have an interactive whiteboard, create a link on your classroom computers for students to view as a center. This site is perfect to use with older students who may have already done research projects as a review for choosing materials. ESL and Special Education teachers may want to use materials included in this lesson as an aid for students who have been assigned research projects.

Use this fun and easy flashcard site to learn information and concepts. Create flashcards easily or use the search function to find existing sets that can be used for study. Play the "Challenge" feature to compete with friends for high scores. Play a variety of games for review of the flashcard set. The variety of options keeps the learning experience fresh.

In the Classroom

Have students or groups of students create flashcards for study. Provide the link to this site or ready made flashcard sets for study as needed. Create flashcards for vocabulary words in all subjects, math facts, or any other material that needs to be learned.

Flashcard Maker, as the title implies, is an online tool to create flashcards. This site also has a healthy bank of prefabricated flashcards that could easily save time in meeting your needs. The link to "Explore Flashcards" allows you to search for prefabricated cards sorted by subject and topic. You can save as sets of cards with tags and share with friends. You can add images to cards, making them not only more interesting to use, but also more versatile since you can identify and learn more visual things than standard flashcards. You can change the flashcard theme, font size, and viewing order.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create flashcards for your classes using Flashcard Maker-- or have them make their own. Try using them as a introduction to a concept, then again in the practice of the concept, and again as a final review. It is a nice three for one creation deal! This would be great for teaching Latin prefixes and suffixes of words to students, use in science terms, or for standardized test preparation. Try having students create flashcards and share with each other to quiz themselves within their own groups. Teach students in higher grades how to create flash cards with multiple blanks to challenge their brain to remember more pieces of the puzzle. Show them how to carefully read through their classroom notes and underline the most important word or words in a sentence. Then have them leave out the most important words for their flashcards. Learning support teachers might want to have small groups create cards together to review together before tests. Have students create flashcard sets to "test" classmates on what they "teach" in oral reports.

Jiskha Homework Help is a large collection of resources to help students learn and improve their grades. The homework help forum welcomes posts to their large group of professional experts and teachers who are there to receive questions. A well organized array of articles, links, and other searchable resources on all kinds of school subjects round out this really well thought-out site for students of all ages. Archives are available to find answers to previous questions, simply type in a search term to find questions, articles, and directories related to the search. Other searches can be done by grade level or school subject by choosing links on the left side of the page. Most answers are provided within a couple of days so this site shouldn't be counted on for last-minute homework questions!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share this site with students to use at home for homework help. Use the site on your interactive whiteboard to answer questions that may come up in the classroom. Have students create "talking pictures" to illustrate responses to homework questions that were answered on the site using Fotobabble reviewed here.

JustPaste.it is a quick, online way to share text and images with others. It features an easy-to-use text editor with text formatting function. Just paste text from another webpage or word processor and text formatting and images will be preserved. By using the "Upload images" module you can easily add new graphics to your notes. If you have written your note originally using a word processor: Microsoft Word, MS Works or Open Office, simply upload it to the server using "Import from file" function. Text formatting and graphics will be preserved. When finished creating your text, click Publish to receive the html code, forum code, and url link. Or create your own custom url through the Custom page name option at the top right. Notes can also be edited through the link provided after publication. The finished product can also be easily saved as a PDF file, just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the save to PDF link. This tool is simpler than setting up a Google Docs account, since it does not require email registration.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Copy and paste important information found on websites while viewing as a class into Just Paste It, then save as a pdf for students to have a hard copy or share a link to the information through your classroom website or blog. Challenge students to create their own "Paste It" to use to take research notes, write study notes for vocabulary, or many other uses. Have students create individual pages as part of classroom projects then share them using a tool such as Padlet (reviewed here) to create an online bulletin board to use to display information learned. Why would a teacher share text or images this way? Teachers can offer an assignment, a writing prompt, a vocab list, a story starter, handout, or even a permission slip for parents to download, print, and sign.

This site is exactly what its title indicates, but it's more. It's not just an audio dictionary program. At How to Pronounce Words and Use Them you see a selection of videos with the word, and different forms of the word being used in context. These are actual news stories, lectures, etc. where people are using the word for real! When you first arrive, you see a sample video. You can also click on one of the sample words at the bottom to see everything offered when you search a word. There is information about why it's important to see facial expressions when learning to pronounce a new word and why it's important not to use the word in isolation when learning to pronounce it. Be aware: this site allows any word to be typed into the text box, including words inappropriate for the classroom. Be sure students know consequences for inappropriate use of this tool just as they do for writing words on the board or in their assignments..

In the Classroom

If YouTube is blocked at your school, use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube and to convert online videos such as the ones you find on YouTube into a portable format you can play at school.

Whether you're an English Language Arts teacher or an ESL/ELL teacher, this site can help your students learn new words. You might want to have students keep lists of words they come across in their reading. Then have them take turns using this site (at a center or individual laptops). Or, if YouTube is blocked at your school, have this site posted on your webpage for parent and student use at home.

If you are a science, history, math, or other subject area teacher, you might want to embed a few of the videos on your own page for weekly vocabulary.

The quality of the information on the videos is excellent. In the Common Core State Standards there is an emphasis on background knowledge. This program will not only help your students with vocabulary and word pronunciation, but will help them build their background knowledge!

You will also find links to make your own rubrics (or adapt others), adapt or create problem based check lists, find Webquests or Thinkquests, find tools for students to write persuasively, and you can view online lessons or create your own. Those are just a few of the resources you'll find at 4teachers.org. Enjoy 4teachers video channel to see tutorials and educational videos. You might also consider joining in a weekly teacher blog on structured topics and see the featured site of the week.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

This site is a great site to begin with basic understanding of technology in education. Tutorials explain many of the basics educators must have. Ready to use lessons, rubrics, and calendar resources are easily available. This is also a great site for Spanish resources. Share with colleagues to help boost your technology savvy classroom!

Disposable web page offers the convenience and freedom of sharing information on the Internet with little hassle. Each disposable webpage has a count down clock. Set the clock to count down anywhere from 90 days to 0 days from the time the page is created. When the remaining time reaches 00:00:00:00, the page is automatically set for disposal and will exist for 2 more weeks before being "incinerated." Features that can be included on the page are bookmarking, rich text editor, uploading up to 5 images, and sticky notes with sticky notes player. The page creator receives an editing "key," and can generate a new key for editing by others.

Unlike other web page and online project creators, this tool erases your digital footprint when it is no longer needed!

In the Classroom

Create pages for quick link sharing or for upcoming events such as field trips, class party information, school events, science fair, etc. Pages will automatically disappear after the event without any effort on your part. Create a page to countdown to standardized testing and allow students to add tips and advice on the page as the countdown goes on. This site could be used during long term projects to help students "stay on track." Students can create simple pages to share links to include in presentations so classmates can participate on laptops.

Create Jeopardy style games that are hosted online. Add images, video, and audio to each "answer." Use of this resource requires registration (email verification required). Click on each square, enter text, images, video, or audio and click OK. Use the URL to share with others to play.

In the Classroom

This would be a fantastic way to find out what students know about a topic prior to studying in class. Use this as a review, to learn vocabulary, or for rich learning opportunities. Have students create their own games/activities to share with the class. Learning support students would respond well to creating review games rather than doing "traditional" review.

The Outliner of Giants is a free, web-based outline program designed to support large, complex documents, such as reports and academic thesis. You can embed content from sites, such as YouTube Videos and PDF documents or simply attach your own files. You can export your outlines at anytime to your Google docs. The service uses Google's own user account system and an HTTPS internet connection. You and your students will be able to access your outline on your computer, iPads, tablets, smart phones, and Androids.

In the Classroom

On an interactive whiteboard or projector, create an outline of facts or concepts in any subject area. You can assign students to "outline" a chapter or story or assign groups to create study guides using this tool. Why not use a student-operated IWB at the side (as a "sidebar") during lessons and have students continuously add to the outline as a set of class notes. This will help them to become familiar with the traditional, formal outlining format. The class can create outlines together, after a brainstorming session using a tool such as Popplet reviewed here. Use Outliner of Giants for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics. Create family trees or menus in family and consumer science. Have students collaborate together (online) to create group outlines before tests on a given subject. Have students organize any concepts you study: outline a story, plotline, or plan for the future; outline a step-by-step process (life cycle). As students discover whether they are more visual or verbal, allow them to choose between outline and mindmap/concept map as a planning tool.

This is a great tool for you or your students to use to plan a resume, a masters thesis, or any academic thesis. You may want to suggest Outliner of Giants to students to plan their letter of introduction when submitting college applications. You might even want to use it in your own graduate program!

Looking for a different, engaging way for students to create reports? At ZimmerTwins.com you can create and share movies on your own or using their starter videos. Share created movies using the code generated after publication. You must be a member to save movies; membership is free. You can create one account to be used by both you and your students. There is a page just for teachers with lesson ideas to use with your students. Students do not need drawing skills; they simply insert and edit characters and text available with the site.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Even in the younger grades, the students would enjoy sharing these clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Create a class video together on your interactive whiteboard. Publish the video on your website or blog. Assign groups of students to create videos with facts on lessons learned (one group does reptiles, another mammals, another birds, etc.) to create a group of videos to cover your entire unit. Challenge students to create a persuasive video as a starter before a writing project. Use the movies already on the site as story starters for struggling writers.

This online countdown timer is meant to be as easy to use as a regular kitchen timer. It is equally simple: all you do is rotate the dial and point the red arrow at the desired number. It can take just one click - just grab the green dot that will appear to help you out and move it around. You will notice that the counter is updated every time you move the dial to make things even more clear. There are two ways to start the countdown - Autostart mode - in this case the timer will start working immediately after you set the time. It mimics the behavior of a real kitchen timer or Manual mode - to get the timer started you will have to press the green start button. Also, just like in a real timer you can change your mind any time and adjust it while it is running. This tool shows the exact amount of seconds in addition to the minutes.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

There are many uses for this practical online tool. Get out your interactive whiteboard or projection screen (or even the classroom desktop computer) and make sure the speakers are turned up. Use this tool for students to practice speeches, or to limit time for a quiz or spelling test. Shrink the stopwatch window in the corner of your interactive whiteboard as you time different teams completing a drag-and-drop challenge. The countdown feature could also be used for timing the rotations from center to center. You can even use the timer for reading fluency exercises or physical education warm-ups! A clever classroom management tool would be to start the visible count-down on your computer screen when you want the class to settle down for directions or to transition to the next subject. Students may even want to use this tool for themselves. Kindergarten students can practice counting along with the watch!